Do you think the Bible is boring? If so, have you ever wondered why you think so? I’d like to say a little bit about that — with a story.
In the small town of Steinbyvika, known for its steep church spires and ancient stone roads, lived a theologian named Per Punktum. Professor Punktum was recognized as an accomplished theologian but was also equally known for being very stiff and formal. Punktum spent his days buried in various books inside his creaky old office. Besides that, he gave lectures at the university, which were known to be characterized by technical terms, monotony, and dryness. He had a wide vocabulary. The only word he didn’t know was interesting, because he could never be that.
One day, after spending hour after hour digging through old dictionaries and academic papers, the Professor was inspired by the idea of writing a new systematic theology book. He sat down at his chipped desk surrounded by dusty books and began to write with a serious expression. Professor Punktum called his book: «Systematica theologica: Diligens analysis divinae». What does that mean? Something fancy in Latin.
After several years, when Professor Punktum had written the last sentence of his work, he leaned back in his chair with a big grin on his face. He was finally done. His work had grown large, a total of five volumes. Punktum thought that this work would challenge even the most experienced theologians, which it did, but not because of what he thought. The books were filled with complicated theological concepts, dry reasoning, and long paragraphs without any kind of relief. Even the language he used was so formal and technical that it could make even the most committed theologians yawn. The challenge was, therefore, to read everything without falling asleep.
Later, this work became part of the curriculum of theology in all the universities in the country. This destroyed much of the interest in the Bible for the seminary students. They were taught to believe that the Punktums books accurately described the Bible, which meant that the Bible had to be just as boring. Naturally, this affected their preaching, which in turn influenced the congregations. Everyone was getting bored.
The Truth of the Story
Although that story was completely fictional, it still has a nugget of truth in it. We Christians are taught to believe that the Bible is a boring and complicated book that we can never use in everyday life. We might find a nice verse to hang on the kitchen wall, such as John 3:16, but that’s it.
But is it really so? Is the Bible distant and dry? By no means!
The reason one might think so is because one treats the Bible as something it is not. It is a book full of instructive stories and emotional poetry, not an encyclopedia of different teachings. When you read the Bible, you are meant to feel and immerse yourself in what you’re reading, but if you treat the Bible as an instruction manual, you will never be able to do so. Who can immerse themselves in a car manual?
The Bible was written with stories and such because that’s how we learn best. You, for example, just learned a reason not to write a dry textbook and add it to the syllabus, from the story of Professor Punktum. It will just bore people. God knows this, too. And he doesn’t want to bore us. No, He wants to make us curious, to delight us, and to teach us. He’s like the good father who sits by his son’s bedside and reads children’s books with him. There in the warm light of the lamp on the bedside table, the little boy learns what it means to be a hero who does what is right.
True, there is nothing wrong with having a systematic doctrine about God because, after all, God is the God of order. Still, that doctrine should be communicated in the same way that God Himself uses in the Bible, namely through stories, poetry, and song, perhaps with some rich dishes next to it! (Is. 25:6)
That’s what I, Tom-Roger Mittag, want to do here on this website. I want to preach about Jesus in a vivid way with lots of stories, not in a technical way. And I want to use colorful, figurative language, not an abstract academic language. Therefore, I would describe the Lord as my fortress and my comfort, not as my “transcendental sustainer” or anything like that. My text should be full of life! Let there be life!
If you think that sounds interesting, pull out your Bible and sit down, and we can read all its stories together and study their meaning. And let us be proud of all that is written and enjoy it. Then we can sing the Bible hymns with joy and joy in our hearts, as the Apostles did.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:16–17
Contact
If you would like to contact me, Tom-Roger, you can find me on Facebook. Or you can fill out this form, and then my faithful carrier pigeons will carry your message to my house, post haste.